The Mayan Calendar
by Megamafan16
Summary: The Doctor and Amy arrive in the Mexican town of Merida, Yucatan...on the day before the 2012 apocalypse! Can they stop the evil plot that has been brewing for 5125 years? Styled like a DW episode...NOW COMPLETE! Plz RR
1. Chapter 1

dDisclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the BBC, so this is not official Doctor Who.

Note: This is set during series 5, between Victory of the Daleks and The Time of Angels.

* * *

"And over here," said the tour-guide, "if you look, there's a nice Baalche' tree. You can tell by the 15 leaflets on the composite leaves. The Mayans were known to ferment the bark of this tree, and mix it with honey to create a very delicious beverage, even since before the Spanish arrived. Also, the modern Maya use it in ceremonies honoring their gods, unlike the blood-sacrifices of their predecessors…"

Unknown to the tour guide, two of the teenage boys in the back were quite bored with the trip: Their parents had dragged them away from the comfort of their regular life to the stuffy Yucatan jungle, despite all objections. Objections which, to them, were now justified.

"Ugh!" one of them, with black hair, exclaimed to the other, "What made our folks think coming here was a good idea? My WoW buddies are probably getting their butts kicked without me!"

"Yeah! _I_ missed my friends' 99 attack party on RuneScape!" answered his blonde friend.

"This 'nature' stuff is so bloody _boring_!.. You got any videos on your Ipad?"

"…Actually, yes!" And with that, the blonde boy pulled the distinctly technological-looking white plate out of his backpack, plugged in some headphones, and offered one of them to his friend as he continued: "When we last had Wi-Fi, I downloaded the news from last week…"

"You mean the one with the sexy substitute anchor?" asked the black-haired teenager, to which his friend nodded.

"Awww yeah!" Both of them high-fived, and the video began playing.

On the small screen, the female (and scantily clad, from the boys' perspective) news anchor appeared, and she began speaking: _"As I'm sure most of us are aware, Christmas season is fast approaching…and with it, an event that has been talked about for the last four years at least: December 21, 2012, a.k.a. the end of the Mayan Long-count calendar."_

"_Famously, the theory goes that this is the 'end of days,' and that the world will end on this day. Well, understandably, that has caused a panic this December. Tourists are flooding the Mexican provinces, still ravaged by increasing drug violence , and fallout shelters are being constructed all across the world. However, we're here to tell you that nothing – absolutely nothing – will occur on the Twenty-first."_

"_Scientists, hoping to appease the skeptics, have compiled a comprehensive list of all possible natural disasters, and examined the probability of one occurring on the 21st thoroughly. According to the geological survey, there are no predicted earthquakes or volcanic eruptions within this month. Our very own crack team of meteorologists has told us that no severe weather patterns appear to be forming. And what's more, astronomers across the world have proof that no celestial bodies or solar flares will strike our planet anytime soon."_

Suddenly, one of the distracted teenagers missed his footing, and grabbed his friend's hand in desperation; an act that instead sent both tumbling down the steep hillside, far away from the path…

…until they finally hit a large, upwardly-jutting boulder, causing them to suddenly receive concussions! The two writhed on the ground in agony, even after the rest of the tour party caught up with them.

Luckily, two of the tourists were able to grab the two people off the ground, and haul them back up to the trail, while the guide called for a helicopter to come pick them up...

…when suddenly, one of them noticed something odd about the rock they had crashed into: "Guys, look at this! On the side of the rock…it's a calendar stone!"

A few more people looked where their fellow was pointing, and sure enough, they saw the circular patterns of a Mayan Long-count calendar stone. All the symbols that allowed the knowledgeable ancient Mayans to tell what day it was, and allow the more spiritual ones to predict the ways that fate might transpire that day, were carved into the flattened side of the boulder.

"Wow…" the tour guide said upon seeing it; "I really wish I could talk about all the ways the calendar worked…but I can't even figure out what one's doing out here!" And, her curiosity piqued, she reached out and touched the carved face in the center.

Instantly, the stone face sank inwards, with the sound of stone grating against stone. Then, accompanied by many similar sounds, all the bands around the face began to rotate like the tumblers on a massive lock.

Frightened by the sudden happening, the tourists all scrambled back up the hill, desperate to get away from the grinding, rotating stone face….

…on which, the arrows lined up with the decorative snakes on the bottom, accompanied with a sharp CLICK! Then, the inner portion of the calendar fell outwards, landing face-first on the ground, and revealing a black cavern behind it.

….

Meanwhile, the boys' Ipad, dropped in their tumble down the hill, was still playing its news video:

"_So, everybody can be relaxed this month, because I maintain that Nothing will happen this December Twenty-first, Two thousand-"_

The video suddenly stopped, as a clawed reptilian foot smashed the white portable computer.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Matt Smith

Karen Gillan

**DOCTOR WHO**

The Mayan Calendar

_By Megamafan16_

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Within the confines of the TARDIS, the Doctor ran all across the raised glass floor surrounding the console, manipulating controls left and right. The central column of the machine responded by bobbing up and down, and producing an impressive grating sound that its driver had become all too used to…

…All while Amy Pond watched on in confusion: "What, you're saying I've met the Daleks before?"

"Everyone did! Back in 2008, the Daleks quite literally stole the Earth, and trapped it in the Medusa Cascade with 27 other planets. The creator of the Daleks, Davros, wanted to use the planets gravity to enable the detonation of a Reality Bomb, which would have erased all matter from existence! I stopped it, and put the Earth back in its proper place… but the Daleks destroyed a large amount of stuff on Earth, it was a major catastrophe! _Nobody_ should forget something like a worldwide 9/11! So that's where we're going: to see why you didn't remember the thing everybody remembered!" And with that, the Doctor set the time-space throttle at the zero position…

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The TARDIS materialized in a back alley, to the shock of a nearby Hispanic person, who promptly fled. He was quite out of sight when the Doctor opened the doors, and he and Amy stepped outside.

"Okay, so, where are we, exactly?"

"Well, Amelia Pond," the Doctor said as he skipped out of the alley, "let's find out!"

And that they did: As soon as they exited the alley, they found somebody sitting by a store and reading a newspaper. The Doctor crouched down, to look at the front page…which was promptly jerked away by the offended reader! "If you want to read the news so badly," the man said in a Latino accent, "find your own copy and leave me alone!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to figure out what place and day this was."

The Doctor's statement confused the man, making his jaw drop…long enough for the Time Lord to snatch the newspaper from him, and look at the front page. He read aloud: "Yucatan times, Merida... Huh, I'm in Mexico…December 20th…2012."

He promptly returned the newspaper, as he slapped himself in the face; "Off again! Well, at least it wasn't like that incident with Sutekh, where I was driven 70 years off course!" He then grabbed Amy, and told her they were going to try again…

…when Amy pulled back, and said: "Wait…this is December 20th, 2012? The day before the End of the World?"

The Doctor looked back at her, inquisitively; "You don't actually believe that, did you? There was a 2013, and a 2014, and all the years after that!"

"Well, what about the solar flares that sent that ship, and the star whale-"

"Those happened millennia later. Listen, Amy, the whole 'Mayans predicted the end of the world' thing was invented by people obsessed with the apocalypse, and only believed by those with no sense of the laws of probability – I'm living proof that _nothing. happens. tomorrow._"

CRASH!

The sound of an automobile smashing into a nearby hardware store caught everybody's attention, and most of the nearby civilians jumped back in shock. Then, they rushed towards it to see if anyone was hurt...

...when the doors suddenly thrust themselves open, and a bald man with a thick mustache and a oddly-shaped knife jumped out! Snarling at the people on the streets, he brandished his knife, and then leaped through the store's smashed window.

Everyone fled to a safe distance...except for the Doctor, who despite Amy's protests, stood just outside the store and watched through what remained of the window.

What he saw was the psychotic robber, with a bag in his hand and his knife in the other, he was taking what he wanted off the shelves on the walls, then...notching the shelves with his knife! ("_To make sure he doesn't forget where he's been..._" the Doctor thought to himself.) At one point, the store owner tried to make the man stop, but a quick flash of the knife quickly silenced any protests.

Then, he grabbed his full bag, and ran back outside so he could get into his car, shooting a glare at the Doctor as he did. "Stay out of my way, human," the man snarled, at which point he re-entered the auto, and fled the scene.

As soon as the automobile was nowhere in sight, Amy Pond rushed over to the Doctor's side. She asked if he was okay, but he shushed her up, obviously deep in thought. The rest of the crowds began to disperse slowly...

...and the dispersion accelerated when the sirens started sounding, as everyone who didn't want to be involved with police business made their desires known to the world.

The Doctor and Amy, however, didn't. And as soon as the police arrived, the two were told to put their hands in the air.

The Doctor, confused at the situation, put his hand to his chin...and then said: "Um... Fiesta?"

Needless to say, the cops weren't too thrilled with his terrible dancing.

…...

…...

At the police headquarters, the two time travelers sat in front of their interrogator with completely confused expressions; "For the last time, we had nothing to do with it!" Amy stated exasperatedly.

"You might not have had anything to do with the _past _ crimes, but you might have in the _future_." said the policeman across the table. "All of these robberies, committed in the exact same style every time, all had different people committing the crime. It's all the same kind of crime: they crash their cars, always a shiny green jeep, and enter with that odd knife. However, it's multiple people who've been seen doing it. This new gang will be stopped...and until it is, we have to suspect anyone of being in it."

"Ugh!" Amy sighed, before slumping over her end of the table. The Doctor, however, didn't look all too concerned. In fact, he didn't seem to be there at all, more content to just stare off into space!

"Um, mister?" asked the policeman, "You've been silent all this time, what're you thinking about?"

Finally, the Doctor spoke: "Have any of the reports said anything _else_ about the criminals?"

"Er...no, not really!"

"Because what intrigued me most about this happenstance...was the culprit's _reptilian eyes._"

The policeman looked at him quizzically...and the Doctor explained: "He blinked as he passed me... I saw the secondary eyelid, or 'nictitating membrane'. Whatever that man was, he wasn't human. And to add to that, his knife's from a civilization that died out 5000 years ago, on a distant planet. Trust me, I went there once."

"Wait, so..." Amy pulled her head up, intrigued; "there might be something to that 'something will happen in 2012' thing?"

"Yes, Amy. I guess there is." The Doctor said, to the total shock of the policeman.

* * *

How will the Doctor avert the apocalypse? (Because we all know he will) Read on (in around a week or so) to find out! And don't forget to leave reviews!

This is a logical extrapolation of a little joke I have as a Whovian: Whenever somebody incorrectly predicts the apocalypse, I wave at the sky and say: 'Thanks, Doc!', because obviously the Doctor saved the day once again...or else the apocalypse would have happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, or the BBC. This is fan originated content, so support the original.

* * *

"Just to make sure: we answered your questions, you have to let us go, right?" the Doctor asked the dumbfounded policeman.

"Uhhh… I guess so…if you're really not in whatever gang is doing this…"

"Good, because I need your help. And I can give you some if you want it. I'm the Doctor, by the way, and you are?"

"….Juan…Fuentes…"

"Ah, well then; Amy, Juan, come along – we've got ourselves an alien to catch!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Back at the scene of the crime, the Doctor was scanning the notches made by the alien knife in the hardware store, with his sonic screwdriver, while Juan and Amy watched.

"Um, Doctor," Amy suddenly asked, "how _did_ you get us working with the Mexican police after they let us go?"

"Psychic paper; didn't have my UNIT badge with me, so I went ahead and said I was from INTERPOL, codenamed 'The Doctor'. If there really is something happening, I'd like to have it stopped _before _tomorrow; Even if it _nearly_ happens, people will associate it with the 2012 apocalypse, and there'll be chaos… so the sooner it's stopped, the better, and the more people who are stopping it, the sooner it's stopped."

"Well, couldn't you have just bribed them or something?.. No offense, Juan."

"None taken." Juan said, raising his hands, "We're still working on that."

Just then, the Doctor's screwdriver beeped loudly as it was near a notch! The Doctor jumped for joy, shouting: "Yes! This is going to be one of those easy 'everybody lives' kind of days!"

Before anyone could ask what he was talking about, the Doctor said: "I've isolated the unique metallic compounds of the culprit's knife! He chipped it slightly on one of the shelves, and left a tiny molecule of material behind! Now, if I scan for traces of this compound in the atmosphere…" He spun in place, holding his sonic screwdriver out. Then, he came to a stop, and said: "… we'll find its source exactly 3 miles northeast of this very spot!"

Amy caught on, having experience with the Doctor: "You heard the man; find out if there are any coppers 3 miles northeast of here!"

Still unsure of what the heck was going on, Juan decided to humor these guys… he pulled out his walkie talkie, and said into it: "This is Juan; any units exactly 3 miles northeast of the most recent crime scene? Over."

"…_the farmer's market? Why there? Over._"

"I don't know, but the guy over here…the Doctor thinks the culprit is there. Over."

"_The Doctor thinks so? But…all the targets hit by these guys are electronics or hardware stores! Over…_"

Just before Juan could reply, the voice came again: "_Wait… there are a few units close by. We'll alert you if we find anybody, just in case. Over._"

"Got that. Over and out." And with that, Juan finally put his walkie-talkie away, and turned back to the Doctor...

...who was busy talking with the owner of the ruined hardware store they were standing in! And mere seconds later, the owner handed him a bag of merchandise! The Doctor thanked him, and walked back over to the shocked onlookers.

"Wh...what are you doing, Doctor?" Amy said first, "This is a crime scene!"

"It's a store. Why can't I buy stuff in a store? Besides, if things go south, we'll need this stuff. Look:" The Doctor then showed the contents of his bag to Amy and Juan, as he described their contents: "Superglue, walkie-talkies, and snacks. Am I prepared for anything now, or what?"

"...I'd say a pretty firm 'what,' Doctor."

"Oh come on now Amy, you know me. A few days ago, I saved the universe with a cell phone!"

"Now look here," Juan began to say sternly, when his walkie-talkie suddenly sounded: _"Hernando calling Juan, are you there? Over._"

"...Yes, Juan here. Over."

"_We've taken a look down by the farmer's market...there's a green jeep there, and a man with a bandana over his hair, who's swiping sweetcorn from the stalls and eating it on the spot! We've gotten most of the area sealed off, and he doesn't seem to have noticed us yet...however, I'm not about to push our luck. Over._"

Juan nodded, and prepared to reply...when the Doctor said: "Tell him, we'll be there imminently, right?"

Juan looked at him with a frown...but nonetheless complied, as he spoke into the walkie-talkie: "We'll be right there, Hernando. Over and out."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

As soon as they arrived a few minutes later, the Doctor walked right to the officer closest to the scene, and asked him if anything changed.

"No." the policeman responded, "Take a look…"

The Doctor followed the officer's finger, and quickly saw: exactly as was described, the bandana-wearing man was standing in front of a stall of sweetcorn, pulling the ears off, and then…shoving it into his throat, swallowing it whole! Everyone observing was disgusted, while the Doctor was just surprised (he had seen worse before).

"I think you left a few details out of your report, Hernando," said the Doctor, "Like, that he _ate the ears whole!_"

"I…I didn't think it mattered!"

"Every detail matters, so you might want to start paying attention to them…speaking of which, we're talking at a regular speaking volume, and he's still gorging away! Why is that?"

"…I don't know! We've made our demands for his surrender, and he doesn't acknowledge our existence!"

"Or," the Doctor said as he stepped forward, "he believes himself to be of a superior race, and doesn't recognize any earthly authority…" And with that, despite the warnings of the officers, (who said things like 'he's got a knife,') the Doctor stepped in front of all the policemen and shouted: "Attention! I order you to identify your name, species, and planet of origin, as set down by the Shadow Proclamation!"

The criminal suddenly choked on his ear of sweetcorn, and coughed it back up…just before he turned towards the Doctor, an angry glare on his face!

"Ah, so you recognize the authority of the Shadow Proclamation, then?"

"_No._" the man spoke, with an inhumanly deep voice… "_The Ssshadow Proclamation is a mighty force, but they do not concern themssselvesss with usss. We hide ourssselvesss too well. However, if any impede our plansss for this planet'sss next day, they are to die._" The man (or whatever he was) then pulled out his hooked knife…

...but the Doctor said: "Ah ah ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you! You're surrounded by the police forces of this planet. Forces with _guns_. And even though I disapprove of guns, I can tell you this: if any harm comes to any of the humans they've sworn to protect, I will be unable to prevent them from using said guns. _Su comprende?_"

The man looked around him with his reptile-like eyes, at all the policemen with varied weapons... and eventually decided to sheath his weapon. "_So thissss planet issss defended. Very well, ssshade of the Proclamation. I will ssspare you today. But know thissss, humansss: Any more of you, who try to bar the dessstiny that hasss been brewing for the last Five thoussssand, One hundred and Twenty-Five Earth yearssss will be dessstroyed without mercy._" And with that, he walked over to his jeep, and climbed in.

The Doctor, apparently still unsatisfied, walked in front of the jeep and said: "Destiny, eh? Whatever 'destiny' is coming to earth, if it is in any way hurtful to humans, it _will_ be stopped."

"_And I ssshall rip any who try to sssshredsssss...including you, if our pathssss crosssssss again. Now order these earth policemen out of my way._"

With a sudden expression of surprise, the Doctor jumped out of the way and shouted: "You heard him! Let him go for now!"

"What?" Juan shouted in surprise, "We can't just-"

Before Juan could finish, the mysterious reptile-eyed criminal jammed his foot onto the gas pedal, and charged his vehicle at the line of police officers, who had just enough time to pull each other out of the way before the car could run them over. And while the shock died down, the strange jeep had turned a corner, and was lost.

"Ugh!" exclaimed one of the policemen, who immediately afterward pulled out his walkie-talkie and said: "All units, follow the green jeep at-"

"Actually, no." the Doctor said, interrupting him: "You don't need to do that to find him, I've already got that covered."

The confused onlookers (especially Juan and Amy) began to ask him for context, and he answered by: first, revealing an empty tube of superglue in his hand...

"Superglue..."

...second, by pulling out a walkie-talkie...

"...plus walkie talkie..."

...third, by pulling out his sonic screwdriver, and holding its buzzing tip to the walkie talkie...

"...plus sonic...equals tracking device!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The sinister man drove along the country roads, intent to reach his destination regardless of whoever was in the way...completely unaware of the walkie-talkie that had been superglued to his front grill.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Well what are we waiting for, then? Why don't we follow him and arrest him?"

"That man," the Doctor began explaining, "said he had some big plans for tomorrow; plans for the whole world. You don't go about conquering and/or destroying the world by robbing department stores... so I have no idea what his plans are, and thus no idea how to stop him! Think about it: he may have contingency plans that would allow his plan to succeed without him, thus making us no safer if we arrest him right away! Better to find him, stop his plans, and _then_ charge him with attempted planetary genocide, wouldn't you agree?"

Disappointed, but convinced, the policeman said: "You make a convincing argument, Doctor; however, I must insist that we accompany you as you follow him, so that we can 'stop his plans' as quickly as possible with more manpower."

"No, out of the question. Too many followers might attract attention. We don't know this guy's full capabilities, so we must keep the element of surprise. I'll go alone."

"Oooh no you don't, Doctor!" exclaimed Amy, turning the Doctor around: "You're not leavin' me outta this!"

"And I insist that at least _one_ officer accompany you." Juan chimed in: "Since I've had the most experience with you, as little as that is, I volunteer myself."

The Doctor looked at the two volunteers for the suicide mission... "Oh, what the heck. Come along, Pond, Juan; We're going..."

….

"...East!" said the Doctor after a minute of consulting his walkie-talkie tracker. "Around 30 degrees south of east, for...ten or so miles, and counting!"

"I'll drive." said Juan.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

An hour later, while the road was surrounded on all sides by thick jungle, the Doctor told Juan to stop. At first, Juan didn't understand...until he turned the curve, and saw the criminal's green jeep smashed against a tree!

The surprised cop pulled over immediately, and got out with his passengers to investigate.

"Looks like he misjudged the curve..." Juan said as he approached the vehicle, and began looking it over.

"Doubt it." the Doctor said as he rounded the (abandoned) wreck: "I mean, look: he smashed the car into the tree...right at the point where I stuck the tracking device!" And a quick glance at the bumper confirmed his claim.

"Alright, so looks like its gonna be a foot pursuit. Look for footprints, then," said Juan...

...when the Doctor pointed out: "That will be kind of hard to accomplish without footprints, wouldn't you say?"

Before anyone could answer that question, a familiar voice echoed through the trees: "_I knew you would follow me, humansss... now, no one can prevent your sssslaughter._"

* * *

Stay tuned to see if they will survive their encounter with...whatever alien menaces humanity this week!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the BBC.

* * *

"Show yourself!" shouted Juan as he drew his gun, "And put your hands up while you're at it! Try anything funny and I'll-"

Juan was suddenly interrupted by a large fruit being thrown into his hand, knocking the gun out of his hand! Juan reached for it, but then…some invisible force snatched the gun away, and threw it up into the trees!

"_You ssshall do nothing, human. Before, you had numberssss on your sssside, but now, one weapon sssshall not sssstop me. My brothersssss expect me, and I ssssshall not dissssappoint them._"

"Brothers? So you're not alone in this? Well where are they?" the Doctor shouted into he jungle.

"_That isss of no concern of yourssss, human._"

"Actually, it kinda is." Amy said: "I mean, you're invading our homeworld!"

"_No, we are merely taking what issss rightfully oursssss. We ssssstaked our claim to this world thousands of earth-yearsss ago, and the humansssss did not resssssisssst. In fact, we were welcomed as Godssss! Much has changed in the years I sssslept, but thisssss world sssstill belongssss to my brotherssss! And once I prepare their coming, I sssshall be held in highesssst essssteem!_"

"…Okay," the Doctor spoke, "so the humans welcomed you as gods… that's a plural! You had help, but why are you working alone now?"

"_There was only one ssssleep-pod. The resssst of the preparatory party, they were chosssssen to sssssacrifice themssssselves; Chaac, Kinich Ahau, Ixchel, Itzamna, Hun-Hunahpu... only I, Quetzalcoatl, was chosssen to enter the long sssssleep, and finissssh the final tasks._"

And then, quite suddenly, some of the trees shimmered, and part of their leaves turned blue and red… and then a large green eye opened, revealing it to be a massive reptile with multicolored…feathers!

Right in front of the stunned onlookers, the alien cast itself off the tree, and they finally got a good look at it: a man-sized, upright-standing reptilian beast, with feathers all along its body and neck, except for a scaled underbelly. At the end of the neck, which curved up from its body in an upside-down U, there was a green snake's head with two red stripes, with impressive plumes of feathers at the point where the neck met the head. Two feathered arms extended themselves from the shoulders, while the whole creatures supported itself on its tail, and no visible legs.

And in one of its hands were the crushed remains of Juan's service pistol, while the other held the alien knife.

"_Sssso, you ssseee, humansss: you oppossse the will of the Godsss…it isss now time for you to be…ssssacrificed._" And with that, the massive creature reared its head back, venomous fangs and alien knife ready to strike…

"NO!"

Quite suddenly, a band of humans of all colors and sizes, with tattered clothes, rushed out from behind the trees, and hurled themselves onto the monster who called itself 'Quetzalcoatl.'

The feathered serpent snarled, and struggled to free itself from the mob, but to no avail.

"I've got some climbing rope!" shouted one of the humans, "We can tie him to a tree!"

"Got it!" shouted another, as he began lifting the restrained serpent up.

….

"…Well, that was unexpected." Amy stated.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"I just have to say, thank you for all your help." Juan said as he and Amy walked with the group through the trees, to a safe location where they had set up camp: "We would have been that monster's food had you not shown up!"

"Truth be told, Officer," said a woman, "we were hoping _you_ would help _us_. We have some injured boys, and we can't haul them to the city on our own."

"Yeah," another from the group spoke up: "we tried calling for a helicopter earlier this moring; however, when it came, that monster leaped into the air, and dragged it down to earth! We went to find the wreckage, but all we found was the pilot, unconscious, and bleeding."

"We wrapped him up with some leaves from the local trees," said yet another person, "and then went to try calling another chopper…but all our phones and stuff were stolen when we got back!"

Juan quickly caught on with what they were talking about: "Wait; this morning, the hospital sent a helicopter to help with a stranded eco-tour, but never heard from it again…are you that tour?"

"I guess so." said one of the tourists.

Juan nodded, and continued walking…but then Amy asked another question: "So you've ran into this guy before? When?"

"This morning…after the boys fell down the hill, we found this strange rock that…opened, and then we've been seeing the creature on and off throughout the day."

"Hmm…could you take me to that rock? I'm sure the Doctor would want to know about it; maybe it's that 'sleep-pod' that he talked about."

"Sure….are you sure this Doctor knows what he's doing?"

"Maybe…but if there's anyone who can help you guys, it's him."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Meanwhile, back at the road, the Doctor was sitting in front of the giant serpentine alien known as Quetzalcoatl, at a distance from the tree the tourists had tied it to. He looked at the creature intently, and began his interrogation:

"You're not going anywhere for a little while, and as you say, I can't stop this big plan of yours…so there shouldn't be any harm in telling me what's going on."

Quetzalcoatl snarled, then said: "_Very well. I ssshall grant you the knowledge of why you mussst die._"

"The last request of the condemned. Alright: First off, why Quetzalcoatl? I thought you and your ancient visitors impersonated the _Mayan_ Gods, but Quetzalcoatl is the _Aztec_ name for the feathered serpent deity. Trust me, I've been to the Aztec world before."

"_I have been given many namessss by the nativessss of thisss world; Kukulkan, Q'uq'umatz, Tohil, and Dragon; Quetzalcoatl isss my favorite name, for it remindsss me of my Quetzalite heritage._"

"Quetzalite? So that's your species? Huh…"

"_So you've heard of me before, one of the Proclamation?_"

"Yes…but that still leaves plenty of questions unanswered, the Shadow Proclamation doesn't have much intelligence on the Quetzalites…"

"_I would have guesssssed so much._" Quetzalcoatl laughed: "_the Proclamation cannot find usss, only what we leave behind._"

"Or, what you take with you." The Doctor said, pointing to the alien knife near him; "So, the fall of the planetary empire of Karandras 4 was your fault?"

"_It hassss no name now. It ussssed to be colony Q-5424._"

"Until you completely destroyed the planet's ecosystem, and abandoned it in favor of your next conquest, which I'm guessing is this planet."

"_Sssoon to be Quetzalite colony Q-5425, yesss._"

"I see…but then, why go to town and steal pieces of hardware and sweetcorn?"

"_Ssssome of my sssship's sssystemsss had decayed with age. They needed replacement partsss._"

"Right, but what about the sweetcorn?"

Quetzalcoatl paused, in thought…and then asked: "_Isss that the name you give to the Maize plant now? Tell me, human: isss thisss 'ssssweetcorn' widessspread acrossssss the world?_"

"Well, yes; corn extract is used in virtually every product now… I mean, look at how many foods contain 'high fructose corn syrup'…"

Quetzalcoatl, upon hearing this, laughed in triumph: "_Ha! Ssso it won't take long to establisssh the colony, humanssss already know how to mass-produce the Maize! Oh my brotherssss, your sssacrificesss were not in vain!"_

"Wait, what? What does sweetcorn have to do with the Quetzalites?"

"_Everything, human. The Maize plant isss from the original Quetzalite homeworld, long since abandoned…we can only ssssurvive by consssuming the minerals of the Maize plant, and thusss can only colonize planetsss where it can grow. Inhabited planetssss are even better, becaussse they can grow it for ussss._"

"…so that explains why you chose Earth." The Doctor then took a step towards Quetzalcoatl; "And tomorrow, the 21st, the arrival of the Quetzalite invasion fleet?"

"_Colonization. We have already claimed thissss world._"

"Yes, yes, by impersonating gods to the Mesoamericans; do I look like a Mayan to you? Quetzy, the Aztecs, Mayans, Incans, Toltecs, they're all _ancient_ civilizations!"

Then, standing right in front of Quetzalcoatl's face, the Doctor exclaimed: "This planet's current inhabitants will not welcome the Quetzalites as the Mesoamericans did!"

"_Nothing sssshall ssstand in the way of our missssssion's ssssuccesss. Our civilization will be essstablissshed on this planet, and thossse who live here ssshall ssserve usss or die. However, you have wasssted your chance to learn, ssso you sssshall be given no warning…_"

"That's what you think."

As soon as he finished saying that, the Doctor rolled off to one side, narrowly avoiding a bite from the Quetzalite's jaws…that came from behind where the Doctor was standing! Surprised, Quetzalcoatl found his jaws clamped not around humanoid flesh, but the bark of the tree he was tied to!

Spitting the wood out of his snakelike mouth, Quetzalcoatl said: "_How? How did you know I wasss behind you?_"

"I kind of got the impression that that wasn't the real you," the Doctor said as he pointed to the tree where Quetzalcoatl appeared to be tied to, "when I heard your voice from behind me, while your mouth was moving in front of me. Nice illusion, I'd like to know how you pulled it off, but I'll be rather busy preventing the Quetzalite invasion of Earth."

With a condescending single laugh, Quetzalcoatl said: "_That'sss what you think._" Then, before the Doctor's eyes, the feathered alien shimmered and disappeared.

"Running away, are we?" said the Doctor…as he checked the physical density of his surroundings with his sonic screwdriver, to ensure that Quetzalcoatl wasn't preparing another sneak attack. Just to be safe.

"_I have wassssted enough time freeing myssself from the bondsss. My brothersss sssshall approach in seven earth-hoursss, and I musssst transssmit the landing coordinatessss to the colonization fleet before then. If you do wish to ssstop me, you ssshould probably get going asss well._" said Quetzalcoatl's voice as it faded into the distance.

The Doctor looked off in the direction he thought he heard Quetzalcoatl, thinking 'indeed I shall'… and then, he took a quick look at the tree, where Quetzalcoatl had used the illusion.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for bite marks on the tree, and severed ropes and glittering Quetzalite feathers strewn around the base. The Doctor picked up a few feathers, and ran off to join the rest of his friends, following the trail that they left for him…

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Ah, there you are Doctor!" shouted Amy; "These guys have found something, and I think it's that guy's sleep-pod!"

After shooting her a thumbs-up, the Doctor said: "Good; maybe we can find out more about that guy – he's not going to be telling us anything more, owing primarily to the fact that he chewed out of the ropes..."

"But don't worry, he's not headed here!" said the Doctor as soon as he noticed that he had unnerved everybody; "I think. At least, if he was headed this way, he'd have been here by now, and gone."

He then ran over to the rock they pointed to. He walked all around it, taking in every detail of the surrounding rock. Then, he entered the circular hole once occupied by a Mayan calendar stone. A minute later, during which Amy heard several buzzes from the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor crawled back out, and said: "Yep, this is a Quetzalite sleeper machine alright!"

"Que-what?"

"Quetzalites, Amy." The Doctor explained: "Nomadic conquerors, they fly virtually undetected through space, conquering random planets, and then abandoning them when their unsustainable environmental policies drain all resources from said planets. Apparently, Earth is their next target, and Quetzalcoatl has been here for the last 5125 years, to make sure we're ready for conquest!"

Amy absorbed all the information the Doctor fed her, and then said: "It takes 5000 years to plan an alien invasion?"

"Yes, Quetzalites don't have faster-than-light travel. However, thanks to the sleeper machine, Quetzalites with vital roles in future invasions can survive that long…" the Doctor then knelt down, and (with a little help) flipped it over so he could examine the markings.

"What's the Mayan Calendar doing on an alien bed?" asked Juan, to which the Doctor responded:

"What's a Quetzalite timed-release sleep-seal doing on the Mayan Calendar? Some wise men were probably inspired by this, and designed their whole calendar around it…and pretty accurately, to correspond with the 5000-plus year countdown Quetzalcoatl set it to…"

Suddenly, one of the tourists broke down crying. A little questioning and (attempted consolation) from Juan later, the woman sobbed: "It's all over! The Mayans were right, the world _is_ going to end tomorrow! We're all going to die and there's nothing we can do about it!..."

"The world is not going to end!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, gaining everybody's attention. "I'm the Doctor, and in _my_ professional opinion, the Mayans said _something_ will happen on December 21st, 2012…but they didn't say _what_! I say, on that day Humanity proves they have the right to this planet, not the Quetzalites!"

Everybody around cheered, and Amy commented: "You make it sound like it's gonna be easy!"

"It is, Amy! All we need to do is prevent Quetzalcoatl from reparing his communicator, and transmitting a map of earth to the mothership, within five hours, and turn the fleet around!"

"But…_how,_ Doctor?"

"…Oh."

* * *

Can the Doctor find and stop Quetzalcoatl before the time runs out? Find out within the week!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the BBC.

* * *

"Okay, so what are you doing back in there again?" Amy called down the hole in the rock.

"I have no idea, really. Nobody's ever seen working Quetzalite technology up close, so what we know about them is really guesswork at best. Interplanetary archaeology. I'm trying to find out all that I can about them using the _working_ tech of a sleeper machine, so I can cobble something together that can hopefully stop Quetzalcoatl."

"Well, you've been in there for five minutes; surely you'd have pulled out something useful by now!"

"I'd try, but…I didn't notice this during my earlier peek, but this machine has no _interface_! No input source of any kind! By all rights, this technology should be impossible to operate in the first place!"

"Well that doesn't give us bloody anything, now does it?" Amy half-moaned, half-sighed; "And you're workin' on the clock too; the sun's almost gone down!"…then, in boredom, she began to pick at the wires lining the inside of the doorway…

"AMY? Did you touch anything?" the Doctor suddenly called.

"A few things… Why?"

"Because an interface panel just appeared! It's been invisible this whole time! I didn't touch anything, and it just appeared!"

Figuring out what the Doctor meant, Amy quickly retraced her steps, poking at the wires she poked at before...

"It disappeared yet?" she called down, to which the Doctor replied "Not yet..."

"...Wait!" Amy suddenly heard as she replaced another wire, "Amy, it just vanished! Hold what you _just_ pressed, and give me a second to get back up there!"

Excitement rising at the sudden discovery, Amy obeyed the Doctor's order, and let go only once he had climbed back out of the Quetzalite machine and followed her hand. What he found was a clear little tube with small bubbles of liquid running through it.

With a grin, the Doctor slowlypulled little bits of metal off the wall, allowing him to follow the tube to its destination: a little box set up right above where the control panel appeared briefly. The Doctor pulled this off its moorings (causing the control panel to reappear) and ripped one side off…

"It's a slide projector…" the Doctor said to himself…just as another detail caught his eye:

"…and instead of a slide, there's a feather!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Just outside, Amy, Juan, and the tour-group were busy waiting for the Doctor's work to finish…

…when suddenly, in the trees, there appeared a familiar blue, green, and red face!

"AAAH! THE MONSTER'S BACK!" a tourist screamed, catching everyone's attention. Everyone's fear returned as they saw the alien face staring at them from above…

"Come on, you're really convinced by that?" said the Doctor as he climbed out of the machine.

"Doctor, that's _pretty_ convincing to me!" Amy said, nervously.

The Doctor sighed, and said: "I guess that's the perception filter working. Here, look over here everyone!"

Confused, everybody obeyed…and once everyone's eyes were on him, the Doctor showed the little device in his hand, and then angled it towards a patch of ground in front of him…on which appeared a tied-up Quetzalcoatl!

"Wait – that was you?"

"Yep! And…" he pulled something out of the machine, and then showed it to everyone: "Quetzalcoatl's feathers."

…

"You see, this is how Quetzalcoatl was able to escape, and how he concealed the interface panel for the sleep-pod! These Quetzalite feathers are big holographic projectors! Pump them full of a special fluid…" the Doctor paused here to pull the tube off of the projector, and squeeze a little of said fluid into his mouth.

After spitting it back out, he continued: "…tastes like sweetcorn extract, plus something else; probably derived from the Quetzalite's digestive system…anyway, once their full of fluid, shine a light on them, and presto! Instant 3d image! Combine it with a slight perception filter from the way the image is constructed, and BAM! One pretty dang believable illusion!

Juan, after a second, asked: "Wait…so all those guys who were committing those robberies earlier today…"

"All Quetzalcoatl, disguised with an organic hologram! Of course, the perception filter aspect isn't perfect; once I started noticing things were off with him, like the knife from Karandras 4, my subconscious pointed out even more flaws in the illusion: the eye-holes he left in the projection, so he could see where he was going. Hence, robbers with literal snake-eyes!"

"So…Quetzalites, in the presence of sunlight, can cast illusions with their feathers?"

"Exactly, Amy! Living reptilian projectors! Undetected for millennia because nobody even _thought_ to look for them!"

"…but how did he manage it in there?"

"With the projector, and the sacrifice of a few feathers…and some processed sweetcorn to fuel the feathers themselves! Then they can cast an image without actually being there! He must have set it up just before abandoning the sleeper machine, to prevent any curious humans from tampering with it!"

Just then, one of the injured boys spoke up: "Must be how they cloak their ships, too!"

"Come again?" asked the Doctor.

"I…saw a newscast with my friend earlier today; they said scientists hadn't detected anything coming this way! But if there's going to be an invasion tomorrow, and they can't just warp them in, they must have hidden them _somehow_!"

"Good point, kid! You're catching on!" the Doctor complimented the teenaged boy. As the child beamed inwardly, the Doctor turned back away… and then exclaimed to himself:

"You know what, I showed you that trick with the projector I discovered, to prepare us for whatever Quetzalcoatl would throw at us…but now, I think it's giving me a plan for action as well! We just need to find the bugger now!" And with that, excited, the Doctor rushed back towards the rock-disguised sleeper machine.

"So…we can fight him now?"

"Juan, be realistic;" said the Doctor as he crawled back into the machine: "Now, we can _stop_ him."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The fury of ages ruffled the feathers of Quetzalcoatl as he ripped at the ground with his claws. How he longed for the days of the 'Mayans', as that human called them, to return just now. Then, he could take his familiar form of a decorated tribal leader, and order hundreds upon hundreds of slaves to dig in his stead.

It was hard at the beginning, as he and his fellow seeders searched for suitable habitats to grow the Maize: one can hardly wonder why they rejoiced inside when they found the planet to be inhabited! It was a simple matter to claim godhood among the superstitious natives, and credit our success at 'creating' this world to a seemingly innocuous grass like plant.

The natives responded exactly as predicted: they discovered the secrets of agriculture, and devoted a portion of their lives to growing the 'food of the gods.'

Oh life was so easy then. Still, he wouldn't be complaining for long. Soon, he would begin repairs, and prepare the transmission. And then he would finally finish the work he had started oh so long ago, and reap the long-due rewards promised him by the Grand Quetzals.

Soon the Quetzalites will live in luxury, eating all the Maize they want, while the puny humans toil in the plantations established over the ruins of their once-proud cities. This was the future Quetzalcoatl saw for him and his people, and the thought of it gave him the drive to continue.

At last, he finally struck a barrier deep within the earth. The spaceship that brought him to this planet, buried by time and obedient Mayans, was uncovered at last.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Following a beeping device, the Doctor and his friends trudged on through the jungle, with only a flashlight and brief glimpses of the moon to guide them…

"Doctor, how much longer do we have to keep going? It's nighttime, most of us should've been in bed by now!" complained one of the tourists."

"I'm fully aware of that; however, if we don't find the spaceship before midnight at least, we'll be waking up to lasers and gunfire!" replied the Doctor.

"And," chimed in Amy, "remind me again how we're finding it in the first place?"

"The sleeper machine derives the power it needs to preserve the Quetzalite within from external power sources, or so I think I understand from what I saw. Anyway, the nearest source of power would of course be a spaceship in park, because the ancient Mesoamericans didn't have electricity. So anyway, according to the readings I'm getting from this improvised tracker derived from the ship's power receivers and converters, there's a big power source right…"

"…there?"

The Doctor, upon being interrupted by Juan, looked up from his device…and saw that in between the tree trunks, there were lights shining.

"…I suppose. So, tour group who's been extremely helpful so far and without whom we wouldn't have gotten this far… stay here and rest, I don't want to put you in any more danger. Amy, Juan, come with me and do _exactly_ as I say!"

When the Doctor was sure everybody was clear on his instructions, he began walking towards the lights with Amy and Juan, saying: "Okay, here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

Just what is the Doctor's plan?

And for those who can guess what it is, will it ever work?

Find out next! Meantime, leave a review, and tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the BBC.

* * *

After discussing the plan, the two humans and the Time Lord peeked through the trees, finally getting a good glimpse of the clearing beyond:

"…Chichen Itza? The ancient Mayan city?" Juan asked his companions.

"Yeah, go figure; who'd 'ave thought the ancient Mayan God hides in an ancient Mayan city?" replied Amy, and causing Juan to go: "Oh."

"And there's our ancient Mayan God." said the Doctor as he pointed to the source of the lights:

At the base of the great pyramid El Castillo, there were brilliantly-glowing torches and strobe lights illuminating a large hole in the ground _right_ at the bottom of the stairs…and Quetzalcoatl, in all his serpentine glory, stood upright on his massive tail at the lip of the pit, admiring his handiwork.

"…Okay, we don't have much time. Juan, make sure he has your attention. Amy, get the tourists coats done up. I'll do the rest."

"Got it, Doctor. And yes, we are well aware of the risks; but to save the planet, it's worth it."

"Good…um, does anyone have any sweetcorn?"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

With a gulp, Juan stepped forward from behind the corner of the pyramid, and shouted: "HEY! BIRD-FACE! WANT SOME OF THIS?"

Quetzalcoatl, who was just about to descend the tunnel with his equipment, turned around... to see Juan standing off in the distance, waving a plastic bag of Maize kernels in front of him!

His Quetzalite stomach growled…but then he said: "_You taunt me with this paltry offering? Thousssandssss of yearsss ago, we were given Blood sssacrificesss!_"

"But…" Juan stammered, before regaining his courage: "I thought you guys ate corn!"

"_Maize isss the esssssential component of the Quetzalite diet, yessss…but that doesss not mean we prefer it in exclusssion to all other flavorssss! I myssself prefer some sssspice with my meal…perhapsss your blood will sssuffice._"

Knowing what was coming, Juan quickly dashed around the corner, with an invisible Quetzalcoatl in pursuit…

….and as soon as Quetzalcoatl dashed off after his quarry, the Doctor rushed out of his hiding-place, and down the hole dug by the Quetzalite.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""

In hardly any time at all, the policeman was tired out, and his pursuer readied his jaws in anticipation…

*(THWUMPH!)*

Suddenly, a large collection of clothes (all tied together into a single object) was thrown on top of Quetzalcoatl, causing him to stumble around blindly for a second! The alien then tried to throw the gigantic cloth off…but then he was tackled by Amy, and knocked to the ground!

Juan then grabbed Quetzalcoatl's arms, and with all his strength, put them in handcuffs. "You're under arrest for robbery, attempted murder, and attempted global genocide!" he exclaimed as he and Amy pinned him down. Quetzalcoatl roared from under their weight, and struggled to throw them off; however, they stayed on, and the Quetzalite stayed trapped.

"Ha! Got your man at last, Juan! How does it feel?"

"'Smashing,' as you English would say!"

"_How?_" Quetzalcoatl asked through the cloth around his head;_ "I hid myssself from your ssssight!_"

"Yeah…for a while!" exclaimed Amy "Once Juan brought you out of the light, your feathers stopped projecting your invisibility field! We've got you all figured out, Quetzy!"

"…_Are you sure?_"

With his captors confused, Quetzalcoatl continued: "_Do you know what creaturessss with 'feathersss' do on thisss planet? I'll tell you: they __fly_."

Suddenly, under them, every single feather on Quetzalcoatl's body started vibrating all at once! And before they could tighten their grip, the alien's body shot along the ground, right out from under them!

Amy and Juan, once they pulled themselves off their backs (which they were knocked onto), could do nothing more but watch as Quetzalcoatl righted himself, twisted his arms forward, tugged off the coats, and pulled the handcuffs off his arms with his teeth.

"_Much better. Now, where wasss I…ah yesss, I was about to kill you."_

"NO!" somebody shouted, as a thrown rock hit Quetzalcoatl's side.

Everyone turned around, and they all saw that it was one of the tourists; one of the injured boys, who also had another rock in his hand.

"_You again. I ssshould have killed you earlier for the indignitiesss you forced upon your me; Me, who ssshall sssoon be your lord and massster!_" And with that, Quetzalcoatl slithered along the ground, lunging towards the teenager…

"_Oh Quetzalcoatl!_" called a familiar voice from the distance:_"I think you might want to take a look at your spaceship!_"

Suddenly, Quetzalcoatl remembered his duties; forgetting his hunger and his Quetzalite pride, he rushed back towards his tunnel, leaving Juan, Amy, and the teenager alone.

"Phew! Lucky for us the Doctor finished up in time!" Juan sighed in relief.

"Finished up what?" asked the boy.

"Well, here's the thing: While we distracted ol' Quetzalcoatl…" Amy said, grinning.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

As soon as the Doctor called out to Quetzalcoatl, he dropped back down the tunnel, and entered the hatch. Then, he stood in front of the controls, and waited for the alien.

Quetzalcoatl himself slid down the tunnel shortly afterward, fangs bared…and then stopped in shock! "_…WHAT HAPPENED HERE?_" he asked, desperate for an explanation of what was in front of him:

An empty room, with none of the familiar machines of a Quetzalite spaceship where they should be!

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Amy continued: "…the Doctor set up some of those feather-projectors he showed us earlier, inside the big guy's spaceship; using the feathers he got when Quetzy escaped, and tweaking them to change the image a little…"

"…he's made the controls for the big ship invisible, just like the ones in the sleep-pod!"

"Exactly!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"You want to know what I did?" the Doctor asked Quetzalcoatl (occasionally glancing at the hidden feather-projectors he set up, to make sure that his enemy didn't notice): "Well…I have a time machine: A TARDIS from the planet Gallifrey. I simply traveled backwards in time, and removed all the machines from your ship while you were sleeping, hiding them in a far-off corner of Prehistoric Earth. Now, you can't use your communicator to transmit the coordinates to the Quetzalite fleet: there's no more communicator!"

"…_Bring them back, or I ssshall KILL YOU!"_

"Sorry. I'm here. Setting them back up now would change the past, you see; I can't rewrite my own time-stream. However, I can help you if you let me. You Quetzalites need to colonize to survive, yes? Well, I can find you a nice, arable planet far away from here; a place you can terraform to suit your needs, and where you can finally settle down, make a new _permanent_ civilization with all the Maize you'll ever need… All you need to do is promise to leave inhabited planets like Earth alone."

Instead of a response, Quetzalcoatl reared his head up, and bared his fangs…

"I can't help you unless you make that promise! You have a chance, TAKE IT!" shouted the Doctor desperately, but to no avail; Quetzalcoatl was blinded by rage, and ready to kill.

"_DIE, HUMAN!_" Quetzalcoatl roared, as he threw his fanged mouth forwards…

…only for the Doctor to dodge it again, causing Quetzalcoatl to strike the wall behind him…full of vital machinery!

All of a sudden, the invisible control panel began to short circuit, causing electricity to arc outwards, and through its former pilot! Every cell of Quetzalcoatl's being burned all at once, and kept on burning as long as his fangs were embedded in the control panel

The Doctor could only watch as, over the course of ten seconds, the charge from the ship's batteries emptied into Quetzalcoatl… and when it finally stopped, all that was left of Quetzalcoatl was a charred husk.

"Ugh. So much for 'Everybody Lives'." The Doctor said, disappointed. "Why do I always have to deal with the elitists who just _can't _let go of their pride, even to save their own skin?"

The Doctor sighed and, seeing as there was no further use for them, used his sonic screwdriver to remotely turn off the projectors. All the machines that were formerly invisible appeared, albeit without power.

Just then, the Doctor heard Amy's voice: "Doctor? Are you OK? We heard some screaming, and-"

"It's OK, Amy;" the Doctor shouted back: "I'm OK. Can't say the same for Quetzalcoatl, though… He electrocuted himself after biting the controls."

"Oh."

With that, Amy, Juan, and one of the tourists slid down the tunnel and joined the Doctor…where they saw the charred corpse of the alien that had plagued all of them throughout the last day.

"And thus, the case of the drive-in robberies is closed. A shame, I'd have loved to haul him in."

"Sorry, Juan; Quetzalcoatl's a higher-profile criminal than that, he'd have probably been sent to some Shadow Proclamation prison, like New Shada or something.

"…so, is that it?" asked Juan; "Is Earth safe now?"

"No."

"…wait, What?"

"The invasion fleet is still coming; we just bought ourselves some time to turn it around by stopping Quetzalcoatl. Hopefully his Quetzalite higher-ups will listen to reason…"

"So what do we need to do, Doctor?"

"What we need, Amelia Pond," the Doctor said, "Is some of the junk that Quetzalcoatl stole, and the battery from the rescue helicopter he knocked out of the sky."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

In short order, the Doctor had completely repaired and repowered the communications console of Quetzalcoatl's spaceship, and (using his sonic screwdriver to manipulate the unfamiliar controls) linked up a frequency.

On the screen, there appeared the head of a plumed serpent not unlike Quetzalcoatl, but with a more elaborate decoration of feathers on the crest. Behind it, there were more unfamiliar machines lining a massive chamber, filled with even more serpents.

The decorated Quetzalite opened its serpentine mouth, and spoke the words: "_We are receiving your sssignal, Quetzalcoatl. Transssmit the geological data of the planet now._"

"I'm sorry, but Quetzalcoatl is unavailable right now," said the Doctor to the Quetzalite, "This is the Doctor speaking on behalf of the planet you want to invade – I'm sorry, _colonize._ We're not particularly fond of being subjugated by extraterrestrials, so we're not going to transmit anything to you."

"_But we don't need you to. Quetzalcoatl will transssmit the data._"

"Quetzalcoatl's dead." stated Amy

The Quetzalite stared through the screen in disbelief, while the Doctor continued: "And unless you plan to land without a landing strip, you're stuck up there, and you can pretty much forget turning Humanity into a slave race designed to grow your food… unless, of course, you turn around and colonize another-"

"_We mussst colonize __thisss__ world. It hasss to be __thisss__ planet._"

When the Doctor asked why, the Quetzalite explained: "_There wasss only enough fuel and resourcesss to transssport the fleet to thisss planet. If we cannot land, you will be our executionersss. The Quetzalitesss will ssstarve unlessssss we colonize._"

"Okay…that explains why Quetzalcoatl tried to kill me when I offered him the chance to turn around…"

"So what do we do, Doctor?" asked Amy.

"I'm thinking…don't want the Quetzalites on the planet, but…AHA! I've got it!" And with that exclamation, he turned back towards the communicator: "Do the Quetzalites have tachyon transmission capabilities?"

"_Yesss. Otherwissse it would be too late when our ssscoutsss tell usss what planetsss can grow Maize, and the Quetzalitesss can thusss colonize._"

"Okay then, here's what to do: Drop your illusions, and transmit a mayday to the Shadow Proclamation. They'll send some tow trucks, and help you to a suitable planet."

To this suggestion, the Quetzalite on the screen reacted with shock: "_What? Reveal ourssselvessss to them? The Proclamation claimsss our colonization issss illegal! They will not…_"

"…help you?" the Doctor said, finishing the Quetzalite's sentence; "Don't worry about that, just tell them the whole thing about why you have to colonize in the first place! Knowing the Shadow Architect, they'll probably say: 'Okay, we'll help you survive, just promise us you won't break the law again.'"

"…_How can they help us?_"

"They can teach you sustainable agriculture, allow you to have a _permanent_ civilization; you won't need to colonize ever again!"

"_And how can we be sure they will?_"

"Well…here, when they get here, just send them this code I'll transmit to you. It basically says: 'Hello, this is the Doctor, these guys aren't criminals by choice, and need help. Don't hurt them unless they hurt you.'" The Doctor said aloud as he typed an archaic series of numbers into the console.

"There! I think you're all set! You have an option which allows the Quetzalite race to survive, and one that allows the humans to live how they see fit. What do you say?"

The Quetzalite on the screen shut its eyes in thought…and after a minute of anxious waiting, spoke:

"_Yessss._"

"YES!" everyone exclaimed…

"_But: if the Quetzalitessss are missstreated by the Proclamation, then you and the earthlingsss ssshall sssuffer our revenge._"

"Unlikely. First, I'm confident that the Shadow Proclamation will obey my instructions; second, they'll have to answer to me if they do mistreat you; and Third…if you return, I'll be there to stop you. Like I said: I'm the Doctor."

"_Then we are agreed…Doctor. We ssshall leave you and the Earth in peace, asss long asss we can ssssurvive without it. Farewell._" And with that, the transmission ended.

….

Everyone sat down on the floor of the alien spaceship, and took a moment to breathe it all in. Eventually, the Doctor broke the silence: "Right then, we've done all we can here."

"So what now?"

"Now, Juan...we collapse the tunnel, thereby re-burying this spaceship, and then we get the stranded tourists (and ourselves) back to Merida. Sound good?"

"Sure. Can't wait to tell the boys about this!"

"Actually... I think it'd be best if you just said that the car-crash robber won't be committing any more crimes, don't you agree?"

After a moment's consideration, Juan did agree.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

A little over an hour later, after using the ship's systems to prepare a ground-altering pulse wave, the Doctor and his friends had gone back to the road where Juan parked his car...while they called for a bus to come as well, to carry the tourists.

"Okay, the pulse wave should be kicking in...now!" exclaimed the Doctor, as he checked his sonic screwdriver. "There, the tunnels are collapsed, now nobody never need know a spaceship is under Chichen Itza!"

"Um, Doctor, you might want to look up..." said Amy.

As the Doctor did, he saw...large lights hanging in the sky, and moving in regular patterns.

"Ah, that would be the Quetzalites, decloaking like I told them to... I hope..."

Just then, the Doctor pointed to a series of blue lights just arriving, and pulling up next to the others; "Aaand that would be the Shadow Proclamation! They _did_ send the transmission!"

Excited that the Quetzalites kept their word, the Doctor hopped into Juan's police car with a wide grin.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Meanwhile, up in space, the Quetzalite mothership (which, to a human observer, would've appeared like a floating Mayan pyramid) opened up its airlock to receive the transport ship of the Proclamation.

The Quetzalite who talked to the Doctor earlier waited at the doors...which soon opened, revealing the Shadow Architect flanked by a pair of helmeted Judoon guards.

As she announced her name and title, the Quetzalite replied: "_I am Quetzal-Ahau the Grand Quetzal, Leader of the Quetzalitesss._"

"I understand. From what your transmission outlined, the Doctor says you're willing to discuss your surrender to the authority of the Shadow Proclamation...with terms."

"_And will you honor those termsss? Will you honor the Doctor'sss wisssh?_"

"Of course." said the Shadow Architect, taking a load off the Quetzalite leader's mind as she continued: "We have been after your illegal invasion forces for a long time; I'm willing to make some sacrifices to see the chase come to an end."

"Now, from what we understand, here is how we understand your terms:" she went on, "You require a planet, upon which you can grow your crops, to live on. We are prepared to select a planet suitable for terraforming to your needs, and grant you full property rights. We are also prepared to offer you any assistance you may require in settling down, and aid in any crises that may occur among your people. However, we will insist that you must remain _on_ the planet we provide to you, under our custody and without access to your space-fleets, until we deem you capable of keeping the responsibilities that come with the privilege of space travel."

The Shadow Architect then produced a holographic form, and presented it to the Grand Quetzal, saying: "If you have nothing to add, then sign here. And don't worry about the language barrier, there's a built-in psychic translator."

The Grand Quetzal looked at the form...and then, while he said: "_Thisss isss the firssst time in known hissstory that the Quetzalitesss have placed their fatesss in another'sss handsss._" he signed the form.

"I promise we will not let you down."

And with that, the Shadow Architect activated her communicator, and ordered her transport ships to engage their tractor beams, and take the Quetzalites to the specified coordinates.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

As Juan's police car blew down the road, the Doctor leaned his head close to the window, so he could watch the sky...and he practically beamed as he saw the blue lights blast off across the sky, taking the white lights with them.

"YES! I told them it would work out, and it did!The Quetzalites get their colony, the Proclamation gets to close a cold case, the tourists are gonna get medical treatment..." he said pointing to the bus behind them, and then continued: "And we get to pat ourselves on the back because _we_ made it all happen! Happy day for everybody!"

"I'm just glad the world didn't end on December 21st!" Juan stated... and then he turned back to him, and said: "You know, Doctor, they're gonna be talking about this for a while..."

"Oh, no doubt!" the Doctor said in reply: "And then, life will go back to normal for humanity; because you lot – you take all the hardships thrown at you, and make something wonderful out of it! Not hard to see why I like humans so much!"

Juan and Amy couldn't help but smile at the Doctor's compliment.

…..

"So, Doctor;" Amy asked after a while, "Where are we going next? Try again to find out why I forgot the time the Daleks supposedly 'stole the planet'?"

"You know, Amy, this whole thing with Quetzalcoatl has got me thinking...he's manipulated Earth's history by impersonating a god, so what if someone did that very thing, but in a retroactive way? Altering history with time travel? Someone like the Monk, going back in time and tweaking the facts just a _tiny_ bit, until the result is all but unrecognizable...what if the reason you don't remember the Daleks is because circumstances were changed, so that it didn't happen?"

At this point, he leaned towards Amy, and said: "I just got a new idea: Let's go browse the Delirium Archives in the year 17,000, and see what facts they got wrong. One way or another, Amy Pond, we're going to get to the bottom of this memory-mystery"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Meanwhile, back at Quetzalcoatl's abandoned sleeper machine, the upturned door (Mayan calendar-esque decorations in plain sight) suddenly cracked, and light began pouring out of the crack...

* * *

So, please tell me what you think! Did I capture the spirit of Doctor Who pretty well?

See you with my next fanfic...but until then, remember: If the world doesn't end, you know Who to thank.


End file.
